COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - As a Tennessee Tech student-athlete, J.
Michael (Mike) Winchester gave great attention and effort in the
classroom and on the playing field.

Winchester has never stopped giving his best efforts to
Tennessee Tech. As an alumnus and philanthropist, Winchester has
supported university athletics and academics with the same passion
he had as a student-athlete. For his work and generosity, Tennessee
Board of Regents Vice Chancellor David Gregory awarded Winchester
the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy at a
recent ceremony at TTU.

Winchester played baseball on scholarship at TTU from 1971 to
1975; the last three years he was named to the All-Ohio Valley
Conference team. His finest year came in 1975 when he was a
member of the NCAA All-South team and the American Association of
Baseball Coaches All-American baseball team. He is now a member of
the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Off the field, Winchester graduated first in his class and
received the Derryberry Award, TTU’s most prestigious student
award for a graduating senior. He continued to excel at the
University of Tennessee College of Law and was admitted to the
Tennessee Bar and the U.S. District Court of East
Tennessee.

Winchester is a founding member and president of Winchester,
Sellers, Foster & Steele, a law firm formed in 1983
concentrating on creditor’s rights, banking, commercial and
business litigation in Knoxville and surrounding areas.

Early in his career he started giving back to Tennessee Tech.
His more than a quarter of a million dollars in contributions place
him in the TTU President’s Club 1915 Society. He won the 2010
TTU Outstanding Alumni Award because his involvement benefits
students in many ways. He created the Winchester History Lecture
series that brings nationally prominent speakers to campus. He also
established a scholarship endowment to support history
majors.

Winchester also has been an advocate for the Tech Athletics
Association and the baseball team, and he shows his appreciation
each year by hosting the baseball team for a dinner and encouraging
others to support TTU athletics.

A Nashville native, Winchester is married to Patty M. Winchester
and has two grown children, Jared and Celia. He also is the proud
grandfather of Gavin Luke and Caroline.